The Stage

L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato

Published Thursday 15 April 2010 at 13:55 by Gavin Roebuck

Jane Glover conducts the English National Opera orchestra with verve in Handel’s baroque pastoral ode to the poetry of John Milton.

A scene from L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, part of Spring Dance at London Coliseum Photo: Tristram Kenton

This inventive dance piece by Mark Morris dates from 1988. Sometimes the movement mirrors the words especially Milton’s “Trip it as you go on the light fantastic toe”. At others, it reflects the music and, in making his own response to the sound, this is also a tribute by Morris to the modern dance movement. Here is a company without a clear hierarchy with enlivening humour and some androgyny between roles. The backcloths, inspired by William Blake’s watercolours, subtly change the mood from scene to scene, as the dancers twirl and leap, somersault and crawl on all fours, climb on each other, prance like horses and form sculptural shapes that gracefully unravel in a seemingly carefree way.

A subtle synthesis of design, lighting, poetry, music and dance make this an enriching work of 32 dances full of joy for the 24 barefoot vivacious dancers. It closes with an exuberant choral chant in praise of mirth, with the naturalistic steps all being ones which everyone has experienced and can physically identify with - walking, running, skipping, jumping, spinning - though all more gracefully performed than any untrained body could achieve, which leaves the audience skipping home on a high.